[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 112 (Thursday, June 29, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Healthcare Legislation

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, from all indications, our Republican 
friends continue to negotiate amongst themselves, behind closed doors, 
to revive the healthcare bill they had to pull from the floor on 
Tuesday.
  I would suggest to my friends on the other side that there is no 
tweak or change or modification that will fix what is wrong with this 
Republican healthcare bill. The core of the bill is the problem. The 
American people are opposed to tax cuts for the wealthy and the 
reduction of the social safety net of Social Security, Medicare, and 
Medicaid.
  The Republican TrumpCare bill is built on a crumbling, decrepit 
foundation, and that is because it is based on the premise that special 
interests and a very small number of wealthy Americans deserve a tax 
break while millions of Americans--middle class families, older 
Americans in nursing homes, folks with a preexisting condition--ought 
to receive less healthcare at a higher cost.
  That idea is so backward, so out of step with what America wants and 
what actually works, it can never succeed, no matter how it is tweaked.
  The one thing my Republican friends are latching on to--that their 
bill will bring down average premiums several years down the line--is 
really a bait and switch. The bait is lower premiums, but the switch is 
higher deductibles and copays so that, in the end, the average American 
pays more than they would have otherwise. They are luring people in 
with a lower premium, but then they have to pay such a high percentage 
of their medical costs, the insurance policy is virtually worthless.
  The Republican TrumpCare bill tells insurers they can offer much less 
generous healthcare plans than under the current system, even allowing 
States to opt out of covering essential benefits like treatment for 
opioids, mental health coverage, prescription drug coverage, and 
maternity care.
  The result of these changes is that insurers may charge smaller 
premiums on some plans, but they will cover way less and, in fact, the 
deductibles and copays will go up--way up--in order to make the 
difference. So this isn't: Oh, you are not paying for some esoteric 
item; your insurance policy will pay for virtually nothing at the 
beginning if you have a high deductible.
  The CBO report estimates that for an average 40-year-old with an 
income of $26,500 a year, looking at insurance on the marketplace, 
deductibles would increase by thousands. If that 40-year-old decided on 
a ``bronze'' plan, for instance, their deductible would be $6,000 a 
year, the CBO estimates. That is $5,200 more than under current law. So 
we know what that means: They have to pay the first $6,000 of 
healthcare, no matter what your insurance policy is. What good is that? 
Not much. Good for the insurance industry, maybe; not good for the 
average citizen. Some of my colleagues on the other side are claiming 
they want lower premiums, but if those lower premiums come with higher 
deductibles and higher copays, nobody benefits. It is a bait and 
switch.
  What the Republican bill gives with one hand in this area, it more 
than takes away with the other because the lower premiums are made up 
for by higher deductibles and copays, so the average person pays more, 
not less, even when their premium goes down.
  Who in America believes that folks should have higher out-of-pocket 
costs than before? Who in America believes that folks making over $1 
million a year--God bless them; they are doing well--deserve another 
$57,000 tax break? Who in America believes that we should be making it 
harder to afford nursing home care or maternity care or opioid abuse 
treatment? Who in America believes a child born with a preexisting 
condition should hit their lifetime insurance limit before they even 
leave the hospital for the first time? Who believes in that in this 
America?
  It turns out, almost no one. A poll yesterday showed that only 12 
percent of Americans support the Republican bill. No amendment or 
compromise or tweak or adjustment in formula can solve that.
  So I repeat the offer I made to President Trump and my Republican 
friends yesterday: Let's start over. Drop this fundamentally flawed 
approach--abandon cuts to Medicaid, abandon tax breaks for the 
wealthy--and we can discuss the problems that Americans are actually 
concerned about: the cost, quality, and availability of healthcare.
  I suggested that President Trump invite all Senators to Blair House 
to begin anew on a bipartisan approach to healthcare. Unfortunately, 
the President said I wasn't serious. Mr. President: Try me. The minute 
you make the invitation, we will take it in a very serious way. It is 
not that audacious of an idea. President Obama did the same thing early 
in his Presidency to discuss healthcare with Members of both parties in 
front of the American people. Our only condition: Drop the wrong-headed 
idea of slashing Medicaid to give tax breaks to the wealthy. It is 
perfectly reasonable, and a vast majority of Americans agree with us.
  Nonpartisan institutions like the American Medical Association, the 
National Association of Medicaid Directors, AARP, and America's largest 
nursing home groups are all against the Republican approach. The 
Congressional Budget Office and other expert analyses say that it will 
not actually fix the problems in our healthcare system--high 
deductibles, high premiums, counties with too few insurance options--
and the American people are as roundly against it as any piece of major 
legislation I have ever seen.
  So I don't believe it is unserious to ask my Republican friends to 
drop this particular bill and talk to us about actually fixing the 
problems in our healthcare system.
  I don't believe it is unserious to say to President Trump: You 
campaigned on bringing costs down and providing care for everyone. You 
campaigned on not cutting Medicaid and controlling the outrageous costs 
of prescription drugs. These are all your words in the campaign. Well, 
we Democrats agree with all of that. So let's talk about it.
  Fundamentally, I don't believe that seeking a bipartisan solution on 
the great issues of our time should ever be considered unserious.
  President Trump, you have complained about a lack of bipartisanship--
unfairly, in our opinion. We are offering a way to implement 
bipartisanship, and right now it is you, not we, who are stopping it.
  I hope my Republican friends, President Trump, and the majority 
leader think long and hard before dismissing our offer out of hand. I 
challenge them again: Invite all of us to Blair House the first day we 
get back from recess. If you think we are not serious, try us. 
Democrats are ready to turn the page on healthcare. When will my 
Republican friends realize it is time for them to do the same?